Donald Davenport Teenager
by amber2011
Summary: AU - What if Donald Davenport met Tasha as a teenager? This story explores that possibility.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

June 10, 1986

I hear my mother's shrill voice echoing throughout the neighborhood.

"Donald, I know you're hiding from me!"

I cringe at the sound. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard, only worse. Sometimes I have to hide from my mother. I know it's bad, but she gets on my nerves. A lot. So I disappear for a while until she regains her sanity. Right now I'm on the roof of our apartment building, messing around with a busted Radio Shack computer that I got from a pawn shop. Mom hates computers. She says they take away people's jobs. I think she's nuts, like right now, the reason she's screaming for me is because she wants me to help her fluff out Mr. Chuffy's tail for the dog show tomorrow. I'm not joking, though I wish I was. We have a Pomeranian named Mr. Chuffy and he eats better than I do.

I hear Mr. Chuffy barking. He's getting pissed off. Soon he'll be gnawing on the coffee table, while my mother chants to him about his inner child. I never knew dogs had inner children. I put on my headphones and turn up the volume of my Walkman as far as it can go. Now I can only hear Tears for Fears sing about people ruling the world. I look down at the sleepy town below me. We live in Cabin, Silver, Maryland not too far from the ocean. I can hear the ocean at night when I leave my bedroom window open. I press the keys on the keyboard of the computer. I'm gonna get this thing to work. I just know it. Just like I know the secret code to explain the universe, well I don't really know that, but I know I'll know it someday and I'll make a trillion dollars and marry that girl from Van Halen 's Hot For Teacher video who dances on the desk after class is dismissed. Hey, I can dream, can't I?

I feel someone grab my shoulder and yank off my headphones. I smell Aquanet hairspray and Charlie perfume. Sharp fingernails dig into my skin. I glance down at the hand that's claimed me, the wrist jangles with silver bracelets, and a diamond ring glitters in the sunshine. She really needs to take that damn thing off. Dad's been gone since fourth grade. I try to play it cool.

"Hey, Mom, how's it going?"

She rolls her eyes and pulls out a pack of cigarettes from the back pocket of her cut off shorts and lights one up.

"Like you didn't hear me before."

"I had on my headphones," I say, looking up at her.

She takes a drag from her cigarette and points to the computer.

"Not this again."

"Computers aren't bad."

She blows a few smoke rings.

"Mr. Chuffy is having a breakdown. He's nervous about tomorrow. Put that thing away."

"Mom, I'm inventing something."

"Inventing what?"

"I don't know yet. It's something major."

She flicks a few ashes and they drift about in the wind before landing between the keys of the keyboard.

"You need to meet a girl."

"What?"

"None of this is healthy."

"And fluffing a dog's tail is?"

"You know what I mean, Donald."

I turn away from her and look at a group of girls walking down the street. They were clad in neon colored bathing suits, their wet hair sticking to their tanned backs. Smooth legs, skinny limbs, narrow hips. A tall blonde tosses her head around as if she is the leader of the group, her legs go for miles and she's barefoot. She catches me watching them and she stares at me for a moment, narrowing her eyes. Then she whispers something to the girl next to her and they laugh. I look away. That's usually how girls see me. A joke. Or the guy to help them with algebra. My mother pats my head.

"Come on inside, it's hot as hell out here."

"Ok."

I pick up the computer and follow her into the building. My mother starts talking about Mr. Chuffy's new diet, but I'm not really listening. Instead my mind is filled with the blonde girl laughing at me, and my father's post card from Costa Rica, where he lives in a hut and eats coconuts all day. I make a checklist of what I need to invent: an artificial father to take me to the Science Museum, and a girl who likes nerds.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary:** Donald goes to a party.

**Rating:** Teen

**Warning:** Cursing, reference to drugs

**Author's Note:** This is an AU story so a lot of elements/character traits will be OOC.

* * *

_**June 7, 1986**_

_**FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO PARTY**_

Mr. Chuffy came in second place at the dog show. The red ribbon and year supply of Purina Dog Chow didn't make my mother feel any better about the loss. She threw the ribbon away when we got home, but she kept the dog food, since it would be one less thing we had to buy.

She decided to go out with her friend Irene and drown her sorrows in tequila shots and disco music. After telling me that there was a tuna casserole in the fridge for dinner, she left the apartment in a black leather mini skirt and red tube top, a cigarette dangling from her ruby lips.

All my friends thought my mother was sexy; it sort of grossed me out when they said this. It didn't help that she had me when she was 18, so she looked a hell of a lot younger than the other mothers at the PTA meetings, which is why she never got invited to many parties.

I gave some of the casserole to Mr. Chuffy and ate cheese puffs instead. After dinner I sat in my room and watched a Miami Vice rerun while flipping through my Thor comic cook.

I couldn't get that girl out of my mind. With her long blonde hair and bronzed skin, she looked like a Malibu Barbie, but I wasn't exactly Ken – not even close. Mom always said I was the kind of cute that grew on you, whatever that meant.

Then I remembered how the girl laughed at me when our eyes met for like two seconds. If only I was as cool as Don Johnson…

Suddenly the doorbell rang. I was so comfortable, all curled up on my bed, wrapped in my Star Wars sheets, that I turned up the volume on my TV and ignored the doorbell. But it kept ringing and Mr. Chuffy started barking, so I finally got up to see who it was. I opened the door and found my best friend Luka standing there, grinning like he just got lucky with the cashier at Pathmark who had 36DD breasts. Every boy in Cabin Silver wanted a piece of that action.

"Dude, I knew you were here," he said pushing himself inside the apartment.

"I live here," I said.

Luka smirked at me.

"Yeah, whatever. Come on change your clothes. We're going out."

"We are?"

"Yep. Is your Mom around?"

"No, she's out with Irene."

"I think it's really sad that your mother has a better social life than you do, Luka said as he walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. It was then that I noticed he was wearing his best alligator shirt and stonewashed jeans, his bangs were bleached blonde and cut diagonally, falling over his left eye, so he had to keep flipping them back. Mr. Chuffy pounced on his black Converse sneakers gnawing on the rubber sole. Luka shooed him away.

"Move it Chuff, if you know what's good for you."

"He's upset cause he lost yesterday," I said.

"Again?"

I nodded.

Luka snorted and gently moved the dog away from his shoes.

"Like I was saying. You need to change out of your Spiderman pjs, and put something else on. We're going out. You better be glad we're best friends because I could totally rag on you right now. Don't you think you're a little old to be wearing those?"

I shrugged my shoulders. Luka had a point but I didn't feel like getting into it.

"Where are we going?"

"Ok, are you ready for this?"

"Ready for what?"

"We're invited to JT Parker's party."

"You're shitting me!"

Luka jumped off the couch and slapped my shoulder.

"No, man, I'm not."

"How the hell did you pull that off? JT doesn't even know we exist."

"He knows I exist."

"I find that hard to believe."

Luka wasn't exactly a social outcast and he was much better looking than I was, but he still wasn't running in JT's circle, if he were, then we wouldn't even be friends.

"I tutored him in Calculus last semester."

"You what? How come I never knew?"

Luka pointed to my cheek.

"What's that orange stuff on your face?"

I touched my face and realized I had cheese puff dust on my cheeks. I quickly wiped it off.

"It's nothing. How come you didn't tell me that you tutored JT?"

"He doesn't want anybody to know. Calculus is the only subject he struggles in. And because he got a B+ on the final exam, he invited me to the party."

I plopped down on the couch, completely defeated.

"Just because he invited you doesn't mean I can come too."

"Yes it does. He said I could bring a friend."

"You know he meant a girl."

"Yeah, so?"

"This is weird. He's gonna be pissed if I just show up with you."

"He'll be too wasted for that."

"Did you even try to get a date?"

Luka looked away from me and suddenly became interested in the People magazine that was open on the coffee table.

"Come on, Luka, did you?"

He shrugged as he flipped through the magazine.

"Sort of. Can we just drop it?"

"Ok, let me go change," I said as I stood up.

Luka smiled at me.

"Don't wear anything with super heroes or Star Wars. Keep it simple. Capiche?"

"Whatever," I said and went into my bedroom to transform myself into something less of a geek and more worthy of a JT Parker party.

**ooo**

"So will his parents be there?" I asked as we got into Luka's pick up truck. He popped in his Bon Jovi cassette and cranked up the volume before answering me.

"No, they're in Jamaica."

"Oh."

"Don't worry."

"Who says I'm worried?"

"I know you, Donald, and you don't have to do lines. Just don't make a big deal out of it like Nancy Reagan."

I punched him in the arm.

"I don't care about that."

Luka gave me a sideways glance.

"Will you take off that Captain Kirk watch?"

I stared down at my watch. I thought it was cool.

"It's a collector's item."

"Nobody cares about that shit. Now take it off or I'm throwing you out of my truck."

"How will I know what time it is?"

Luka reached over and got a pack of cigarettes out of the glove compartment.

"I'm sure JT has those things called clocks. Anyway, it's not like you have a curfew. You know what's weird?"

"What's that?"

"You've got a hot mom, no curfew, and you don't have zits."

I had no idea where he was going with this.

"So?"

"So, it's like you have the perfect set up to really party your ass off, and what do you do? Stay home with that prissy dog and watch Crockett and Tubbs fight coke dealers."

"Miami Vice rules."

Luka lit up a cigarette.

"Maybe. But it's not the same as getting laid."

I took off my watch and shoved it into my pocket. I thought about the blonde girl again. Luka started singing:

"Shot through the heart and you're to blame, you give love a bad name…"

We rolled the windows down, and I was starting to get pumped. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. Then Luka stopped off at Weaver's Liquor Store, it was the largest liquor store in Cabin Silver, Jamie Weaver, the owner, used to date my mom until she dumped him because he wanted to get married.

"I told JT I would bring a six pack."

"You can't buy beer."

"Duh, I'm getting Witt to do it. He's meeting us here in about 10 minutes."

Witt was Luka's cousin. He was 21 and worked as a plumber for Roto Rooter; he had this awful mullet hairstyle and a chipped tooth. He never liked me much. We sat there rocking to Bon Jovi until Witt pulled up on his motorcycle. After he cut the engine, he hopped off his bike and sauntered over to the truck, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Whassup?" He said nodding at us, his eyes not focusing on our faces for very long.

"Witt, dude, thanks for doing this," Luka said, handing him a folded 20 dollar bill.

Witt shrugged his shoulders and sucked his teeth.

"Miller or Bud?"

Luka looked over at me.

"What do you think?"

"How the hell should I know?"

Witt laughed.

"Like Mama's boy is gonna know."

Did I mention that Witt didn't like me?

Luka finished his cigarette and ground it out in the ashtray.

"Get Bud."

After Witt went into the store, I said:

"Your cousin is a prick."

"No, he's not. He's just rough around the edges."

"He called me a mama's boy."

"He always calls you that."

Luka was starting to get on my nerves, so I didn't say anything after that. Instead I hummed along to Wanted Dead or Alive, the next song on the tape. About 15 minutes later, Witt came back with the beer and handed it to Luka along with the change.

"Did you get something for yourself?" Luka asked as he put the beer on my lap.

Witt nodded and held up a bottle of Jack Daniels.

"Thanks, man."

"No problem, later, cuz," Luka said and we were on our way again.

**ooo**

JT Parker lived in a huge mansion on the outskirts of town. The Parkers owned half of the businesses in Cabin Silver and there was even a statue of JT's great-great grandfather in the town square; he fought in the civil war.

As we drove up the long, paved driveway, to get to the castle that JT called home, my stomach felt funny. I suddenly wished I had stayed in my bedroom with Mr. Chuffy.

Luka had grown quiet too. For all his mouth, he knew we were both out of our social league, by coming to this party. As we got closer, we heard the strains of Rock Me Amadeus blasting over the speakers. I looked at myself in the rearview mirror. I had on a black t-shirt and jeans, nothing fancy or designer labeled. I sighed. What the hell were we thinking?

* * *

_**I SAW HER STANDING THERE**_

Bikini clad girls were running around outside the house throwing water balloons at each other.

Luka crossed himself.

"Thank you God."

I shoved him.

"Cut it out man."

"This is heaven," he said with a solemn face.

I shook my head and tried to dodge the water balloons as they sailed through the air. Colored lights were strung up in the evergreen trees surrounding the house. Dale Holland, a recent graduate, stumbled over to us and hugged us. He was like 6'2 and had the strength of Goliath.

"Welcome to the JT Summer Blast!" He took the beer from us, "How the hell are ya?"

"Fine, real good," Luka said, trying to be cool, "So where's JT?"

"Beats me. What's your name again?"

"Luka."

"What kind of name is that?"

Luka turned red.

"Hey, Dale, congratulations on you scholarship to the University of Maryland," I said changing the subject.

Dale opened up a beer and took a drink.

"Thanks, man."

Before he could say anything else, I pulled Luka away and we went inside the house. Music was blasting and people were everywhere. Dancing on table tops, making out on the staircase, running through the halls half dressed. I saw a pair of panties hanging from the crystal chandelier in the foyer. Luka started chatting up with some girl with pink hair and a nose ring. She didn't look too interested, but that's never stopped him before. He somehow managed to get her to go out onto the deck with him, leaving me to fend for myself.

I pushed my way through the crowd and went into the kitchen, and then I saw her, the blonde girl from the day before. She wore a bright green tank top and short white shorts that showed off her magnificent legs; her tanned skin glowed, and her blonde hair hung down her back in rippled waves. She was leaning against the fridge, staring right at me, as I walked toward her, I never felt so sure of anything in my life, she was like an answer to a mathematical equation that never made sense. I only had a few more feet to go (this kitchen was huge), when out of nowhere, the swinging door opened and someone ran into the kitchen crashing into me from behind, and I fell flat on my face, and whoever it was lay on my back yelling out apologies.

"I'm so sorry," she said laughing.

"Get off me!"

I felt the girl lift herself off my back. I got up off the floor and turned to look at the person who ruined the most perfect moment of my teenage life. She was black with short curly hair and full lips, a white lace headband with a huge bow adorned her head and she wore dozens of bangle bracelets on her wrists. Glitter sparkled on her cheeks. Her pink crop top hugged her chest and her pink lace skirt was just above the knee. She was cute in a Judy Jetson sort of way. I looked for my Malibu Barbie but she vanished. I was pissed.

"Could you at least watch where you're going?"

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" her big brown eyes looked worried. I felt a little guilty for yelling.

"Yeah, I'm ok."

"I was running from JT," he's determined to throw me in the pool and I can't get my hair wet," she said holding out her small brown hand to me, "my name is Tasha, what's yours?"

"Donald. How do you now JT?"

"I don't really know him that well. My family came to Cabin Silver for vacation and rented one of the Parker cottages near the beach. JT invited me to the party."

"Oh." I thought about Barbie again and wondered why she disappeared. Tasha touched my arm.

"Are you sure, you're ok? You look upset."

Something about her made me want to open up.

"Have you ever saw someone so perfect and so right for you that you had to talk to them?"

Tasha grabbed a soda from the cooler next to her feet and opened it. After she took a sip, she answered me.

"I think so. When I was at a Madonna concert I made eye contact with this guy who had Michael Jackson eyes. Thriller Michael Jackson, not Bad Michael Jackson. I don't care what anybody says, there is a difference."

Ok, that was weird, but at least she understood where I was coming from.

"Well I had that happen tonight. I saw this girl. My dream girl and I was about to talk to her when – "

"Oh no, I messed up your chance!"

"Yes."

Tasha looked down.

"Gee, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make you miss out on something good."

"The night isn't over yet."

"Is this your first time seeing her?"

"No, I saw her for the first time yesterday, but she laughed at me."

"She laughed at you?"

"It's not as bad as it sounds. I was sitting on the roof of my apartment building and – never mind it's not important."

Tasha took another sip of her soda.

"No, this is interesting."

"You don't get out much do you Tasha?"

"Ha ha, so what happened next?

"She walked past with a group of her friends and she points at me and says something to another girl and they laugh."

"That's it?"

"What were you expecting? A Harlequin?"

Tasha laughed.

"I forgot that guys don't know how to tell a story."

"I have to talk to her."

"Did you come here alone?"

"No, I came here with my best friend Luka. He ditched me for a girl. And you?"

"A few friends but I don't know where they are."

Suddenly, What You Need by INXS started playing on the stereo. Tasha grabbed my hand and pulled me into the next room.

"Come on, Donald. Let's dance!"

Despite my mother and father both being awesome dancers, I sucked at dancing. I never know what to do with my body. Luka was a great dancer. I figured he was probably already cutting a rug as Tasha dragged me to the middle of the floor. She started hopping around and clapping her hands. She was a worse dancer than I was, but she didn't seem to care, she kept laughing and smiling. Her attitude was infectious because soon I was laughing with her and we both hopped around like kindergarteners on crack.

_This is what you need_

_I'll give you what you need…_

We both shouted the lyrics together. Her bangle bracelets jangled as she bobbed along to the music, in a rhythm that only existed in her mind. I was actually having a good time.

When the song was over, a slow song came on, we both stood there awkwardly, until I spotted my blonde dream girl over in a corner whispering into a brunette's ear. We made eye contact.

"Tasha, there she is." I said, "She's the blond in the corner, isn't she beautiful?"

Tasha sort of smiled and glanced over in the corner.

"I've seen her around on the beach."

"Do you know her?"

Tasha shook her head.

"We've never spoken. I think her family is renting a cottage not far from ours. Are you going to talk to her?"

"Are you kidding me? This is my destiny!"

"I can't argue with destiny. Good luck, Donald." Tasha said. As she was about to walk away, I reached for her arm.

"Thanks for the dance. It was fun."

She nodded and smiled, and left the room.

Tasha was nice and even cute in her own way, but she wasn't my dream girl. I made my way toward her again. This time there was nothing to stop me.

* * *

**END NOTES: **Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary:** Donald finally talks to his dream girl and gets in a fight with a bully.

**Rating:** Teen

**Warning:** Cursing, reference to drugs

**_SOMETHING ABOUT YOU_**

"Hi, I'm Donald. Donald Davenport. I saw you in the kitchen and –"

My blonde dream girl laughed.

"You're that guy from yesterday, right?"

I played dumb.

"Yesterday?"

She flipped her wavy hair.

"Yeah, yesterday. You were on the roof of some building."

"Oh, you saw me? I go up there to practice karate."

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm up for a black belt. Wax on. Wax off." I said and did my best Mr. Miyagi impression.

She smiled like my Mom did when I used to tell her knock-knock jokes, you know the kind of smile that said, you're cute, you're my son, but that joke was about as funny as a root canal. I changed tactics.

"What's your name?"

"Melanie. But everybody calls me Mel," she stared at me with her aquamarine eyes and for a second I thought they changed colors, but I guess it was the light, she licked her lips and said, "You were funny dancing with that clumsy girl."

"Huh?"

"That girl you were dancing with. The one who crashed into you in the kitchen."

"Oh, her," I said, suddenly remembering Tasha, "Yeah she was nice."

"You're the first sober guy to talk to me tonight."

It was getting more crowded in the room. Your Love by the Outfield came on, and people were steadily getting wasted.

Then, suddenly, without warning, Mel pulled me forward and kissed me. Her lips were soft and sweet and she smelled like the beach. When she pulled away from me she said:

"Good, the coast is clear."

I was still reeling from that fantastic kiss.

"What coast?" I asked, wondering if I was dreaming and I would wake up in my Star Wars pajamas with Mr. Chuffy at my feet.

"Some jerk named Dale keeps following me around asking me to marry him; he won't let up. You'll have to pretend to be my date."

"Dale can be cool; he just acts stupid when he's drunk."

She took my hand.

"Come on, let's go upstairs."

I had no idea what she had planned, but I followed her anyway. Hell, who was I kidding? I would have followed her anywhere. I liked how my hand felt in hers. We pushed through the crowds and slowly climbed the stairs. I tried not to stare too hard at Mel's lean tanned legs or her perfect behind as her hips swayed in front of me.

When we got to the second floor, I saw Luka at the end of the hall making out with the pink haired girl. I guess she liked him after all. Mel opened the door to the first room on the left and there was a group of popular kids sitting around a glass table doing lines of coke. Luka warned me about this. Where were Crockett and Tubbs when you needed them?

Spencer Jackson, a guy who has tormented me since elementary school, looked up from his place at the table, a faint trace of white powder was on his nose. Spencer was a Ken doll: tall, muscular, and tanned with a smile that belonged in toothpaste ads. He spotted us in the doorway.

"Well, if it isn't Davenport. Who the hell invited you?"

I opened my mouth to answer him, but then his eyes fell onto Mel.

"You could do so much better than him. Have we met before?"

Mel shook her head.

"No, I'm from out of town."

"That figures," Cheryl Donahue, said, as she rolled up a dollar bill between her slim fingers. She already looked wasted. Her green eyes were dazed, and her red hair was a long tangled mess. I once had a crush on her back in our freshman year. She sat in front of me in geometry and hummed Duran Duran songs when she was figuring out different formulas. Sometimes I gave her the answers. Rumor has it that she had a nose job. I couldn't tell any difference.

Spencer looked at Cheryl.

"What figures?"

Cheryl giggled and pointed at Mel.

"Girls who look like that aren't from Cabin Silver."

"True," Spencer said, staring at Mel, and not hiding the fact that his eyes were glued on her chest, then he said:

"Since you're hot, you may as well stay. I'll even let Davenport stay too."

"Um, no thanks. We gotta go."

"Aw, come on, stick around," Spencer said, grinning at her. Then he stood up and walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, "You already fit in, even if you're with a dork like Davenport."

Mel tried to brush his hand off of her shoulder but he only held on tighter.

"Relax," he said as he got closer to her, "You smell good."

"Leave her alone," I said.

Spencer ignored me and said to Mel:

"So, where are you from?"

"You're in my space," Mel said.

"Yeah?"

"I suggest you back off."

"I think you need to calm down," Spencer said and ran his hand through her hair.

"I'm warning you, leave her alone," I said with more courage than I felt. Spencer was twice my size and kicking my ass would be like crushing an empty soda can to him. He glanced over at me and before I knew it, he pushed Mel aside and pinned me against the wall.

"Losers like you never know your place." His face was inches from mine and his breath reeked of beer; His eyes were bloodshot.

"Spence, come on, just drop it ok?" Cheryl appeared next to him, trying to pull him away, "You're being a dick right now."

"This doesn't concern you, Cheryl," he said as he pressed me harder into the wall, "You're not gonna go crazy are you Davenport? Like your Dad did?"

When he mentioned my father I spit in his face. That was probably the stupidest thing I could have ever done. Spencer punched me in the face and stomach and shoved me onto the floor. His fists felt like balls of steel when they came in contact with my jaw. As I was writhing about in pain, I looked up and saw Spencer looming over me, he was about to pounce on me, and I guess finish me off, when Mel grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it.

"I warned you," she said.

Spencer's face grew red and he couldn't breathe.

"Shit, what are you doing to me?"

His eyes closed and he collapsed to the ground. Cheryl was screaming.

"What did you do?"

"Is he dead?" someone asked.

Mel looked down at me and her eyes were violet for a second and then were normal again. She crouched down beside me.

"Are you ok?"

I could only nod. _What did she do to him?_

She held out her hand but I didn't take it. I was scared of her. I was actually scared of a girl. This thought unsettled me. I somehow managed to stand up on my own, despite the pain in my stomach. Everyone else was crowded around Spencer, who lay there on the floor lifeless. Cheryl grabbed Mel's arm.

"Whatever it is you did, you need to undo it," she said.

Mel shrugged.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Suddenly, Spencer started moaning and he opened his eyes, and even though I was relieved, I wanted to get as far away from him as possible, so I hobbled out of the room and out into the crowded hallway where couples were making out and drinking. With the loud music blaring on the stereo, nobody heard the commotion in the room, or maybe they did and they were too drunk to care. My head throbbed and blood trickled from my nose. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, Mel was in front of me.

"You should've let me help you."

"Go away."

"Spencer is fine."

"Look, just leave me alone, ok?"

"You're bleeding."

I didn't say anything. I pushed past her and walked down the stairs, holding onto the rail, as I stumbled over people. When I reached the bottom, I saw Tasha rushing over to me, she was dripping wet. Her once curly hairstyle was now a frizzy mess.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

Her big, brown eyes were filled with concern and she touched my arm. I got a little tingle in my stomach as she stared at me.

"Why are you all wet?"

"JT finally caught me and pushed me into the pool, he's so drunk. But forget about me, who beat you up?

"Never mind that, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. I'll get him back. Come on, let's get you washed up."

She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the nearby bathroom. The walls were painted red and there was a black and white poster of Marilyn Monroe hanging above the toilet. Tasha got some paper towels from the dispenser on the wall and motioned for me to sit on the toilet. She turned the water on and wet the paper towels.

"Hold your head back," she said.

I did as she asked and closed my eyes. She gently wiped my face.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"No, it's really weird and complicated."

"Does it have to do with your dream girl?"

"Sort of. But not really."

"Hmmm."

"What was that hmmm for?"

"Nothing just hmmm."

She finished wiping my face and then she found a bottle of alcohol in the bathroom cabinet. She poured a little on some dry paper towels and dabbed it on my cuts.

"Ouch, that stings."

"Sorry."

"No, don't be, thanks for doing this."

She shrugged and smiled. It lit up her entire face.

"Too bad I can't change clothes," she said, looking down at her wet dress.

Just then somebody knocked on the bathroom door.

"Hey, open up! I gotta take a leak!"

I recognized Luka's voice. I opened the door.

His mouth fell open when he saw me.

"Damn, what happened?"

"I'll tell you later. Do you think we can leave?"

Luka pointed at Tasha.

"Who's she?"

Tasha held out her hand.

"My name is Tasha. I was just helping out Donald."

Luka smirked.

"Looks like you took a plunge."

"Yeah…"

I didn't like how he stared at her, so I said, "What happened to the girl with pink hair?"

"She had to go. I got her number."

"Cool."

Suddenly, we heard a commotion. The music stopped. Everybody started running out of the house.

"I wonder what's going on?" I asked.

"Somebody must have called the cops because of the noise," Luka said, "We better get out of here."

Tasha looked scared. I held her hand.

"It's ok, we just need to leave."

She nodded.

"Ok."

Soon all three of us were running. Once we got outside, I saw two cop cars parked in the driveway with their red and blue lights flashing in the darkness. A fat, bald police officer with squinty eyes ran up to us as we made our way over to Luka's truck. He shined his flashlight in our faces.

"I'm afraid we have to ask you kids to stay put. We can't have any drunk drivers on the roads."

"We're not drunk," I said, "Come on, just let us go."

At that moment, I heard a voice say:

"It's alright, officer, they're with me."

I turned around and saw Mel standing there, her hair was blowing in the wind.

"Have we met before?" the officer asked her.

"Maybe we have. I don't know."

"Are you Bishop Caney's niece?"

Mel shook her head. "No," she then pointed to his wedding band.

"You've been married a long time, haven't you?"

"Beg your pardon?"

"You and your wife have been together a long time."

"I thought you said you didn't know me."

"I said maybe."

He took a few steps toward her.

"I see. Well you can't leave. This party has underage drinking. And I won't have drunk kids driving home."

"I'm sober and so are my friends. Please let us go."

The officer nodded toward Tasha, who clung to my hand.

"Why are you wet?"

"I got pushed in the pool."

"She needs to go home," Mel said, "What if she gets sick?"

"How did you know I was married a long time?"

"Your eyes."

The officer didn't respond at first. Instead he stood there staring at Mel as if he were in some sort of trance. Mel simply held his gaze. I squeezed Tasha's hand because she was shaking. All around us kids were trying to escape unnoticed. Then the officer whispered.

"That's what my wife says about me. My eyes. They give me away."

"Yes, you have kind eyes," Mel said.

The officer gave a faint smile.

"You and your friends can go."

"Thank you."

Before he could change his mind we hurried over to Luka's truck and piled in. Tasha ended up sitting on my lap, and I didn't mind. All of us were silent as Luka drove down the long, winding, driveway and back onto the main road. Mel just stared out the window, humming a song to herself. Every once in awhile, she glanced in my direction, but I stayed focus on the road in front of us. She was spooky in the sort of way that you knew it was probably not a good idea to get on her bad side. I put my arms around Tasha because she was shaking so much.

"Hey, it's ok, are you cold?"

"No, I'm thinking about something that's all."

Before I could ask what she was thinking about, Luka asked me:

"So, are you going to introduce us or what?"

I had no idea what he was talking about at first then it dawned on me that he meant Mel.

"Oh, Mel this is my best friend Luka and this is Tasha."

Mel leaned over and smiled at them.

"Nice to meet you both. Thanks for the ride, Luka."

"Where are we taking you girls?" Luka asked.

"To Parker Cottages," Tasha said.

At the stop light, Luka pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, he took a long drag and said:

"So, Mel, what kind of spell did you put on the officer? You got him to let us go."

"It wasn't a spell."

I thought about the death grip she used on Spencer and my heart started beating really fast.

"Then what was it?"

"It wasn't anything."

Luka rolled down the window to let the smoke out.

"Yeah, right. But whatever it was it works. You got a boyfriend?"

"Could you pull over here?"

"At the gas station?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry I'm getting you all wet," Tasha said.

"Don't worry about it," I said and I got that tingle in my stomach again.

Luka pulled into the parking lot of the gas station.

"Why did you want to stop here?"

Mel unlocked the door.

"You can just drop me off here."

"Wait, don't you have to go home?" Tasha asked, "Won't your parents be worried?"

She shook her head.

"Everything is cool. I'm meeting somebody here," she then turned to me and said, "I'm sorry if I scared you earlier."

Of course I lied.

"I wasn't scared."

Mel sighed and opened the door.

"I'll see you guys later. Thanks again for the ride."

"We can't just leave you in a gas station parking lot, who are you meeting, anyway?" Luka asked as he blew smoke out the window.

"A friend. I'll be fine."

"Well, we can wait here with you, until your friend gets here," Luka said.

"That's ok. You need to get Tasha home," Mel said as she got out of the truck. "Don't worry about me."

Luka and I looked at each other. Both of us knew she was lying but the way she was insisting that we leave in that too polite manner was off putting. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Suit yourself."

Mel waved at us as we drove away. Tasha got off my lap and sat beside me. For some reason, I put my arm around her. She smiled at me.

"You don't have to do that. I'm ok, now."

"I want to."

"Thanks, Donald."

Luka, who wasn't one for tender moments, decided to kill the party.

"Dude, you need to tell me who kicked your ass at the party and did it have anything with Mel the bombshell?"

I was quiet for a long time. How was I going to tell them about Mel? That there was something about her… I decided to come clean.

"Mel is different."

"How different?" Luka asked.

"Twilight Zone different."

Tasha laughed.

"Do you think she put a spell on the officer too?"

"Nothing like that."

"Then what is it?"

So I told them what happened with Spencer. When I was finished, we had arrived to Tasha's cottage.

Luka cut the engine.

"You're not shitting us are you?"

"No, of course I'm not."

"Well, what the hell did she do? Was it some Vulcan death hold or something?"

"I don't know."

I left out the part about her eyes changing colors. I hoped that I imagined it. I also didn't tell them what Spencer said about my father. I wanted to keep that to myself. Tasha put her hand on my knee.

"Donald, I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe she just knows some self-defense moves. You said Spencer was fine."

"I know but it was weird. He couldn't breathe… what kind of self-defense is that?"

Luka ground out his cigarette in the ashtray.

"The way I see it, it's not anything to get upset over. Besides she got that cop to let us go. She's mysterious. That's cool, you know?"

Maybe they were right. Perhaps I was overreacting. She was still beautiful and sweet in her own way…

"Do you think we'll see her again?" Luka asked.

"Probably," I said.

Tasha had grown quiet. She slowly moved away from me and opened the door. "I better go inside and get in bed before my parents wake up and ask me a lot of questions. Thanks for the ride, Luka."

"No problem, it was nice meeting you."

I grabbed her arm.

"Thanks for helping me. I guess my face is pretty messed up."

She stared at me for a moment.

"Your face looks fine. I'll see you around."

"I'll walk you to the door."

"Thanks."

Her cottage was right on the beach. It was one of the fancier ones with a sun porch. We walked in silence. When we got to the front door, I blurted out:

Did you want to like go to a movie? Or hang out sometime?

She smiled and bit her bottom lip.

"Sure."

Even with her frizzy hair and ruined dress, I wanted to kiss her. I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers. She tasted like chlorine and cherry chapstick. My heart stopped beating for a second, yeah this girl was definitely doing things to me. An image of us holding hands on the beach flashed in my mind as I kissed her. I wondered what it meant. When we broke apart, I said:

"Can I have your number?"

"No."

"No?"

"You know where to find me."

And without another word, she went inside.

**ooo**

As we drove to my apartment, Luka asked me:

"So you like that Tasha chick?"

"Yeah."

"But you like Mel too right?"

"I like Mel. I just. I don't know."

"Listen, Donald, I know your type and Tasha doesn't fit the bill but Mel does."

"I can have more than one type."

Luka shrugged his shoulders and turned on the radio.

"By the way Mel was staring at you, I think she really likes you. No reason to be scared of her. Besides she's hot."

"There's nothing wrong with Tasha," I said as I leaned my head out the window for some fresh air.

"Nobody said there was. But what's up with her hair?"

"It got wet that's all."

"Do you think your Mom will care about you dating a black girl?"

I thought the question was stupid.

"She doesn't care about stuff like that!"

"Ok, ok, calm down. No need to get all touchy."

"Sorry. Listen, I like Mel, I really do - she just freaked me out."

Luka nodded as he pulled into the parking lot of my apartment building.

"Why don't you go out with both of them?"

"I guess I could do that. Did you want to spend the night?"

"Sure."

When we got inside my apartment, Mr. Chuffy came running over to us barking his head off. Luka tried to pet him and Mr. Chuffy growled at him.

"I thought he liked me!"

I turned on the living room lamp.

"He does, he's just in a bad mood."

"Whatever, hey you got anything to eat?"

"There's some tuna casserole in the fridge."

"Do you mind if I have some?"

"Go help yourself."

After Luka went into the kitchen, I sat down on the couch and turned on the television when the telephone rang. I couldn't find the phone. We had a cordless phone, and my mother was always leaving it in weird places. Mr. Chuffy started barking again. I scolded him.

"Stop barking!"

This angered him more and he began gnawing on the coffee table leg. I searched the living room for the phone and finally found it behind the television beside a stack of my mom's old disco albums. I finally answered it.

"Hello?"

A girl was crying on the other end.

"Donald?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"It's Cheryl. I'm at the hospital."

I sat down on the floor.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Spencer. He's in a coma!"

"What?"

"I knew that girl did something to him."

"You don't know that for sure," I said, trying to convince myself more than Cheryl.

"Just because you have the hots for her doesn't mean she isn't to blame."

"Are you still high?"

"Fuck you, Donald."

"Cheryl, you guys were doing a lot of coke tonight."

"So what?"

"So that may have something to do with it."

Luka came in from the kitchen, carrying a big bowl of casserole and a 2-liter Sprite; he plopped down on the couch and turned up the television, suddenly the sound of Van Halen filled the living room.

"Turn that down."

"Sorry, dude, didn't know you were on the phone."

I went into the bedroom and closed the door.

"You can't blame her or even prove she did anything."

"I want to know where that girl lives. That's why I called you." Cheryl said.

"I don't know."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Donald, I know you hate Spencer. I admit, he's a prick, but I love him even if he doesn't love me back, so can't you help me out?"

I lay across the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"What does finding her have to do with Spencer's coma? She's not a doctor."

Cheryl started crying.

"Maybe she can reverse what she did. I'm scared. Please help me. I don't want him to die."

I closed my eyes and recalled how Mel's eyes turned violet. _What the hell was going on? And what was I going to do?_ I had to get to the bottom of everything.


End file.
